UN aims to restart Burma dialogue

Bangkok Post - Monday June 25, 2007 FOCUS / INTERNATIONAL ROLE IN RANGOON UN aims to restart Burma dialogue Recognises talks with Rangoon must be revived if the world body is to remain relevant in the reform process By LARRY JAGAN The United Nations is urgently trying to find new ways of effectively encouraging the Burmese military government to push forward with its policy of national reconciliation _ a term the military junta uses to describe its road map to political reform. For nearly two decades, resolutions passed at the annual UN General Assembly have mandated the UN secretary-general to use his good offices to support the regime's efforts to introduce democratic reform. Now the UN is trying to revive its involvement in Burma's national reconciliation process. Two weeks ago the newly appointed special adviser to the secretary-general, Ibrahim Gambari, held a secret meeting in New York with independent Burma specialists and senior UN officials, including the UN resident coordinator in Rangoon, Charles Petrie, to map out a Burma strategy for the UN. The special adviser reportedly realises the UN must immediately restart its efforts to support attempts by Burma's political forces to enter some form of genuine political dialogue, or risk being sidelined and unable to play a constructive role in the national reconciliation process. He is keen to return to Burma as soon as possible, but feels he needs to consult with some of Burma's key neighbours and allies, particularly Beijing, before he visits the country again, according to a senior source at the UN. For its part, the junta is anxious for Mr Gambari to come in mid-July and attend the opening of the National Convention, which is to draw up guidelines for the new constitution, according to a senior Burmese official. The constitutional process is set to resume on July 18, and according to Burma's acting prime minister, Thein Sein, who also oversees the National Convention, this will be the last session of the body. ''There is no way the special adviser would come during the first week of the convention,' ' a senior UN official said. ''That would be tantamount to giving the convention a UN seal of approval, but an August visit is not impossible.' ' A Nigerian diplomat, Mr Gambari has now effectively replaced the previous special envoy for Burma, the former Malaysian diplomat Ismail Razali. Mr Gambari visited Burma twice last year as head of the UN's political affairs department. During those trips he met the country's top military leaders, including Senior General Than Shwe, and the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose house arrest was recently extended for a year. In fact, the UN envoy was the only person from the outside allowed to see Mrs Suu Kyi in the last three years, apart from her doctor. Mr Gambari understands that he needs to give Burma his full attention if the UN is to have any hope of helping the national reconciliation process. But he also knows that if he is to be effective, the UN needs a detailed and well-considered strategy, and a mechanism to implement it, before he ventures forth on another exploratory trip to Burma, according to a senior aide at the UN. That will be the main purpose of his talks with senior Asian diplomats in the region's key capitals, especially Beijing, before he heads off to see the generals again. The UN's involvement in Burma has distinct aspects to it. The key one of course is helping the national reconciliation process and Burma's return to democracy, for which in his new role Mr Gambari would be primarily responsible. The other areas are human rights, for which there are several special rapporteurs and representatives _ including Brazilian lawyer and academic Paulo Sergio Pinheiro who has not been allowed back into Burma now for more than three years, humanitarian assistance, economic reform and the establishment of the rule of law. While these are separate concerns, the UN sees the need for all activities related to the country to be coordinated at the highest level within the organisation. When Mr Gambari returns to Burma he will meet all the sides _ the military and pro-democracy groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy, and the ethnic minority groups. His primary concern though will be to explore whether there is a role for the UN in the national reconciliation process and what that might be, according to a senior UN official. Mr Gambari's first visit, more than a year ago, was essentially to re-establish a relationship with the regime and the other key players. This was necessary because the previous special envoy had effectively become persona non grata with the junta and had been refused access to Burma, after what proved to be his last visit in March 2004. So after more than a two-year gap, it was crucial for the UN to re-establish contact. Six months later he had a follow-up meeting and told the regime what he expected them to do as a goodwill gesture to build trust and show their commitment to the national reconciliation process. ''Having done that it is important for him to ask the generals, pro-democracy groups and ethnic leaders what they expect of him,'' said a senior Western diplomat. Mr Gambari understands that a lot of time has been wasted since his last visit, largely because of internal UN problems and restructuring under the new secretary-general who took office earlier this year. Now the UN needs to move quickly if it is to play a meaningful role. In fact, there were those at the meeting in New York who urged Mr Gambari to go back to Burma as soon as possible, even before the National Convention resumes its deliberations, said a source at the meeting. This would make sense as the National Convention _ the first step on the Burmese road map to democracy announced by then-prime minister General Khin Nyunt in August 2003 _ is drawing to an end. If the UN and the international community are to have an effective role, even as interlocutors rather than mediators, it would be useful for the UN special adviser to be involved before the completion of the first step. But there may not be time to organise this and Mr Gambari himself may not be fully prepared, said a Rangoon-based Western diplomat. In terms of a new strategy, the recent meeting in New York focused on two main themes, according to sources who attended the event. The first was the need to engage China as a central player in supporting national reconciliation in Burma. There was a consensus that while Beijing may have limited sway with the generals, the Chinese were the only ones who might be able to influence the junta, if they were inclined to do so. ''Beijing, the rest of Asia, and the UN should recognise that they have a common objective _ regional stability _ and a strong, transparent, developed Burma would no longer be a threat to regional security,'' said a Western diplomat. ''This has to be the thrust of Gambari's approach _ not the need for democracy and human rights,'' he added. There have been signs recently that this may also match Beijing's view and that they are willing to discuss these matters privately with other countries. There has been high-level dialogue about Burma between the US and China at the level of Christopher Hill, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said a source at the US State Department. The Chinese have also been pressing Washington to start its own bilateral dialogue with the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on Burma's political future, said a senior Chinese government official. On the other hand, with planned Chinese mega-projects in northern Burma _ the road linking China to India and two proposed pipelines _ Burma's economy and country will be radically transformed. It will become completely dominated by Beijing. The generals must know this and it might make them more ready to accept UN assistance. The other key factor that the meeting identified was how to give the pro-democracy leader, Mrs Suu Kyi, a role. ''While we cannot convince the Chinese that she is the answer, we need to make her less irrelevant and recognise that at the very least she is part of the solution that would ensure regional stability,'' the meeting was told. This, of course, will remain Mr Gambari's most difficult task _ to get the generals and some of their key Asian allies to accept that Mrs Suu Kyi cannot continue to be ignored. Whether he can get her freed is another matter. And of course nothing short of an unconditional release from house arrest would satisfy the pro-democracy movement inside the country and most of the international community. But the special adviser faces the same difficulties his predecessors did: the intransigence of Burma's top military leaders and their reluctance to allow what they regard as foreign interference, combined with their grave mistrust of the UN in general. http://www.bangkokp ost.com/printthi s.php ..........